Shouldering the Burden of Many: Disproportionate Impact of COVID-19 on BIPOC Essential Workers
By Allie Bond, The New Jersey Gun Violence Research Center, Rutgers University
Since March 2020, the Coronavirus-19 (COVID-19) pandemic has impacted the lives of nearly every United States (US) resident. Research has found that COVID-19 may lead to stress and negatively impact emotional functioning (Pfefferbaum & North, 2020). Although the pandemic has impacted almost all of us, some professions have experienced an increased burden from the pandemic. Essential workers, individuals whose work was deemed part of the critical infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic by their state of employment (e.g., grocery store workers, health care workers), may have experienced higher levels of stress and worse outcomes. For example, one study found economic stress related to the pandemic to be associated with increased risk of alcohol and drug use among health care workers (McKay & Asmundson, 2020).
Even though the picture of COVID-19 looks different in March 2022 than it did in March 2020, the logistical, emotional, and economic stressors experienced by essential workers may be felt long after the pandemic; especially for historically disadvantaged groups such as those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Recently, my colleagues and I conducted a study examining COVID-19 stress and suicidal ideation among essential workers and focused on essential workers who identified as members of the BIPOC community (Bond, Wagner, & Anestis, 2021).
We found that essential workers report greater past-month suicidal ideation and higher COVID-19 stress than non-essential workers. When it comes to BIPOC essential workers, findings indicate that they are experiencing greater past-month suicidal ideation and higher compulsive checking, reassurance seeking, and fears about economic consequences related to COVID-19, compared to White essential workers. These findings highlight that even though all essential workers are experiencing additional stress and higher suicide risk, those who identify as BIPOC are experiencing disproportioned stress and suicidal ideation compared to their White colleagues. One explanation for the disproportionate stress is the impact of COVID-19 on Black and Brown communities; Black US residents were more likely to be hospitalized than White Americans (Romano, Blackstock, Taylor et al., 2021). Another potential factor that explains these differences is their experiences of systemic racism; specifically, research indicates that experiences of systemic racism and discrimination impact stress (Anderson, 2012; American Psychological Association, 2016). Lastly, the study’s data collection period extended into the Spring/early Summer of 2020; although the COVID-19 pandemic was a prevalent event in the US, police brutality and racial injustice were brought to the forefront of the media’s attention and many residents minds. Therefore, it is important to consider that although these findings may indicate greater stress related to COVID-19, events such as the increased awareness of and information on (e.g., videos) police brutality may have impacted the stress and suicidal ideation, reported by many BIPOC US residents.
These findings, coupled with other research that found BIPOC individuals experienced greater suicidal ideation and worse mental health outcomes as a result of COVID-19 (Czeisler et al., 2020), highlights the importance of finding ways to reduce stress and suicide risk among the BIPOC population, especially those who have served as essential workers. From a psychological treatment perspective, there are fewer treatments that have an evidence bases for being utilized with ethnic minorities (e.g., Hall, 2001). Therefore, researcher should prioritize the examination of treatments for ethnic and racial minorities; and clinicians should seek to increase their cultural competence and deliver culturally appropriate treatments. Additionally, socio-economic changes could help decrease the disproportionate stress experienced by BIPOC individual in the US. Although these are essential steps for creating a culture that supports BIPOC essential workers, more immediate action to decrease risk for suicide should be considered. Beginning in 2020, many Black individuals bought firearms during the firearm purchasing surge (Miller, 2021), and the presence of firearms in the home increase risk for suicide (Conwell et al., 2002). Clinicians working with BIPOC essential workers should engage in discussions of firearm safety for suicide prevention in order to increase safe firearm storage and decrease risk for suicide. Additional strategies, such as offering sliding scale mental health care for BIPOC essential workers who are experiencing an increase in fears about economic consequences due to COVID-19, offering early morning and evening appointment hours in an effort to work around essential workers’ schedules, engaging in culture humility as clinicians, and offering culturally informed care are immediate actions that can be taken and may help decrease stress and reduce risk for suicide among BIPOC essential workers. Most of all, we as psychologists need to prioritize the voices of the BIPOC community; we need to listen to the needs, wants, and experiences of the BIPOC community in order to provide the care that is needed.
Although the landscape of the COVID-19 pandemic has changed, BIPOC essential workers experienced stress and an increase in suicidal ideation that may last throughout the 2022 year; and therefore, mental health professionals should prioritize amplifying the voices of these individuals and addressing their needs.
If you or someone you know in the US is struggling with suicidal thoughts, please reach out the the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800–273–8255 or visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org (Languages: English and Spanish). For resources outside of the US please Find a Helpline Here.
We would love to hear your thoughts or questions; please join the discussion in the comments below!
References
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